Your career pathway

Ann Duignan, Cloud Integration Engineer, Ericsson

What does your work involve?

A week for me could involve consulting with clients in terms of what they want when it comes to developing their business for the cloud, what they want to learn or what they want to improve. Once we have a design for what they're looking to implement, I could be working on site with the client to put the project in place. That could be here in Ireland or anywhere in the world. My job does involve a lot of travel.

What was your path to your current job?

I studied mechatronic engineering in the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown, and then worked in Microsoft for a year in a sales position, then I got a job with the training department in Ericsson, and since then I've worked in different roles in the company, from developing technology to security to my current role, working with the Cloud.

What are the most important traits for your job?

Teamwork and leadership are both important, as is listening to the customer so you can find out exactly what they want.

Do you have any advice for students?

When applying to Ericsson, I had to go through an assessment centre where I had to complete different tasks to show leadership, technical skills and leadership. It's very important to develop your presentation skills.

What's the most important thing you have learned?

I think one of the main things I have learned is that innovation is key and it's important to always think of new ideas and be creative, even if you don't think you are a creative person. The Cloud allows for a lot of creativity, but you have to be able to match that with a business case and show how you would implement your idea.

What's the best thing about your job?

It's extremely different on a daily basis, both customers and projects so it's a great challenge which I am really enjoying.